Beth threw up her hands as her helpers fled.
Jeff hustled into the kitchen entrance and had the front door open about the time Tanya reached it. “Hi, honey.” As Tanya entered he took the nicely warm pizza box in both hands and closed the door with his foot.
Beth and Connie headed straight for the kitchen sink to wash their hands.
“You already know Beth, of course, but have you met Connie?”
“Connie Bryan.” Connie waved. “Come on out to my dealership when you’re ready to trade-in whatever you’re driving out there.”
“Don’t hold your breath, Connie.” Now Jeff was at the sink. “My wife loves her Volkswagen.” It was the redesigned Beetle.
“Hi, everybody. I’m Tanya. Hope you haven’t gotten too hungry. The place was pretty busy. You know... Saturday night.”
“Sorry, Hon. I forgot it was Saturday.” Jeff dried his hands quickly and squeezed his wife’s thin shoulder.
“You’re just in time, Tanya. We’d finally found a stopping place.” Beth clutched Tanya’s lean elbow. “Thanks for helping out.” She motioned to the living room. “Everybody grab a paper plate and let’s eat where we can get comfortable.” She pulled out four cups and half a pitcher of iced tea.
Even though Beth truly hit it off with Jeff, she never seemed to have all that much in common with Tanya. It was true that Tanya had made the first effort by helping on move-in day, but hardly any of Beth’s attempts to reciprocate had worked out.
Tanya was attractive, though almost excessively slender, and nearly the same height as Jeff. Her skin, slightly lighter than Jeff’s, was smooth and lovely. Tanya always seemed terribly serious—so much so that Beth could not recall ever seeing her smile, beyond a polite, insincere-looking effort.
Beth had concluded that she and Tanya might never become close because her good friendship with Jeff could come between them. She’d rather keep Jeff’s friendship than add Tanya and risk losing Jeff somehow. Was Tanya potentially jealous of their friendship? Jeff never said so. But one could easily become jealous of a husband’s friendship with a single woman.
All ate without conversation—the three researchers because they’d worked up such an appetite, and Tanya was probably a bit uncomfortable. The delicious aroma now among them completely covered any residue of the odors they’d previously suffered through. Melted cheese dripped luxuriously from thick warm crusts. The spiciness of peppers and onions contrasted with the earthiness of savory meats. It would be difficult to imagine a better meal for tired, hungry people who didn’t want to cook.
It didn’t take much time to consume the entire, extra large pizza.
After they were through eating, Beth again thanked Tanya for bringing the food.
“I don’t mind.” Tanya wiped her full lips. “We’re always looking for new places to eat.”
Connie handed her enough cash to cover the whole bill. “I told Jeff I’d treat.”
“No, no.” Jeff extracted a five and left the rest in Connie’s hand. “It’ll be Dutch.”
Beth quickly got her purse and also pitched in five dollars.
Jeff handed Tanya the money. “Everything okay with your mom?”
Tanya nodded but didn’t speak. Then her eyes grew moist. “Mom was hounding me again. You know, her favorite topic.” Tanya stood and turned away from the others. “I get so tired...”
Jeff jumped up and draped a toned armed around Tanya’s lean shoulder. “It’s okay, Hon. It’s our business and she has no right meddling. And upsetting you.”
Connie looked like she wished she had a call to return.
Beth rose from the couch and moved closer, but not so near that she was in their space. “Is everything okay?”
“It’s her mother. We’re not having children soon enough to suit her schedule and she won’t stop harping about it.” Jeff rubbed his wife’s slight shoulders. “Sometimes it’s a bit hard to take.”
Connie nodded—she obviously understood this topic as well.
“I’ve gotten a bit of that too, Tanya. Enough to know how it hurts... whatever your reason for waiting.” Beth had three extra years of reasons. “It’s nothing for anybody else to decide, not even eager grandmothers.”
Tanya turned. “If she wouldn’t act like I’m abnormal for wanting to wait. All we want is enough savings built up that we can get through a few years without my paycheck.” Tears rolled down her thin cheeks. “I don’t want to go back to work after six weeks and leave my baby in day care.”
“We want Little Jeff to be at home in the formative years.” That explanation came from Big Jeff.
“Oh, stop it with Little Jeff.” Tanya smiled through her tears. “You know that girls run in my family.”
“Little Tanya will be just as good, hon.” He hugged her. “When we’re ready.”
Tanya took a moment to dab at her eyes and cheeks. “So, Beth... Jeff tells me you’re on the hunt for some elusive treasure. Any luck so far?”
Beth briefly explained what they’d learned to that point and how they’d begun with the rather simple notion of looking for a diary she vaguely remembered.
“And that’s why you were robbed last weekend?”
“That’s all we’ve come up with so far.” Beth nodded. “My ex-boyfriend is on his way here to try to help... in his own, sometimes, very physical way.”
“Shane’s coming here from California?” Connie hadn’t heard.
“Tonight?” Neither had Jeff.
“No, not tonight. Not sure when he’ll get in. He might’ve left this morning, unless he changed his mind.”
Tanya didn’t look like she understood any of the information about Shane.
“We more or less broke up when I came here to help with my brother. I figured it was over for good, but Shane—just in the past few days—has started acting like we still have something left between us.”
“Do you?” Tanya actually seemed interested. Maybe she’d like it better if Beth had a boyfriend around.
Beth slumped her shoulders and looked away briefly. She didn’t know. But she couldn’t think about it now anyway. Change the subject. “Okay, folks... let’s get back to work.” She pointed toward the garage. “Tanya, we’d love your help, if you’re able to stay a little bit.”
She hesitated. “Well, maybe a few minutes. Just to see what you’re working on.”
Jeff grinned. He probably knew she’d soon become just as hooked as he was.
Connie rolled her eyes but followed everyone out to the garage.
Beth put the photo album on a utility table and reopened the ancient case. Then she picked up another small stack of loose items and pointed to the remaining contents. Connie and Jeff each grabbed a few pieces.
Tanya watched cautiously and then covered her face. “What’s that awful smell?”
“Oh, just a little mustiness. You’ll get used to it.” Beth pointed again to the disheveled contents of the case.
Connie shook her head and pinched her nose. “Nuh uh. It’s like a dull needle probing your sinuses.”
“It’s not that bad.” Jeff chuckled. “Just picture wet gym socks after a few weeks... but they never dried out yet.”
“My husband, the salesman!” Tanya smiled softly.
“Hey, here’s a legal document... uh, about a mortgage, apparently.” Jeff pointed to the faded page. “Concerns the property of a Mister Harte. Ring any bells?”
Beth shook her head sideways.
“Here’s some more names.” Connie waved another document. “Somebody named Elizabeth Margaret Madison born in England. 1880s.” She handed it to Beth. “Lists birth dates and places. Must be a birth certificate.”
It was about eight-by-fourteen inches. Beth examined both sides quickly. “No. A British birth certificate would likely be on a smaller government form and have a seal or something. This is a California legal paper... affidavit, according to the back.” She held it up so they could see. “I’d guess it’s related to a succession matter, since it has several other peoples’ names.” Beth put it aside.
“Odd to find a nineteenth century British kid in a California dumpster.” Jeff had a point.
Connie returned to the huddle around the overnighter. “Well, there’s no reason to suspect that family photo album and these couple of documents are related—to each other or to anything else in there. All this stuff could be household trash from dozens of different people using the same dumpster.”
She was right, of course, but Beth didn’t want to hear it. Beth wanted—no, needed—some of the overnighter’s material to be connected... somehow.
Connie rubbed her nose with the cleanest part of her wrist. “Besides, we just came after a few movie pictures and some old diary. Why do we care about any of the rest of this?”
“Because...” Beth tightened her jaw, “these are pieces of somebody’s life.”
Connie looked chastened, but not convinced.
Everyone obviously realized there was a lot of very general—and quite diverse—clutter in that little suitcase.
Jeff retrieved a tightly packed manila envelope and perched on the dusty fabric of a camp chair. He cautiously peered inside. “Jackpot!” He held up a fistful of photos of actors in costumes.
“The movie pix you mentioned?” Tanya leaned in closely.
“Here’s the silent movie stills that your ex raved about.” Jeff waved one in the air toward Beth.
“That’s an interesting coincidence,” intoned Connie. “One person tosses movie pictures and another dumps Vaudeville programs.”
Beth didn’t want to jump to false conclusions, but it was far more than coincidence that one particular dumpster had contained programs from Vaudeville productions and publicity stills from what were certainly silent movies. Even if nothing else in the overnighter was connected, those two groups had to be. But what—or who—were they connected to?
“A name!” Jeff nearly jumped up, which was difficult because of how low one’s rump settles in typical camp chairs. “Lynette Harte! Our little girl in the siblings photograph, Lynette... probably after she married. It’s written on the backs of these two. No, three! Three movie photos have her name on the back.”
“Let me see.” Beth grabbed those with names. “That little girl became a lovely young woman. Plus an actor’s name. Cal Edwin... evidently her co-star.”
Jeff peered over her shoulder. “Oh, that same guy’s been in most of these pictures.”
Tanya did some quick research on her I-Phone. “Says here that Lynette Harte was in numerous silent movies and worked in the same film company with Charlie Chaplin during one of his earliest contract periods—1916.”
Beth wondered whether Lynette and Charlie were in any of the same films. “Based on these pix, it seems like she was most often paired with Cal.”
“Not only have most of the silent films been lost or destroyed, but sometimes there aren’t even any stills from those movies.” Jeff’s sneeze interrupted. “Dust allergy. Anyway, super good quality stills like these—they could be worth some money to a collector.”
“Would they be worth enough that somebody would break into my place and try to steal them?” Beth gulped.
Jeff wiped his nose with a handkerchief. “Hard to say. I don’t know which films those pictures represent. Might not even be possible to ID all of them.”
“Hey, I found more of these.” Connie held up additional Vaudeville era programs.
“Just toss ‘em on that pile.” Beth started to point, but her mouth opened wide. “Wait! If those are playbills for performances of some kind, they’re bound to have a cast listing somewhere. We need to check for Lynette Harte’s name.”
“I didn’t read those others from start to finish, but all I saw was a dozen pages of ads and info about the management of the theater. Plus the name of the production.” Jeff continued flipping through the publicity stills. “Hardly any two stage sets look the same.”
“Got to be in here somewhere.” Beth grumbled. “You don’t put on a show and forget to list the performers.” She flipped through page after page. Most of the programs were faded, torn, and water stained; some had evidence of insect damage around the edges.
Connie studied one of the playbills. “I see the name Harte a lot. But it looks like he’s the manager of the actors.”
“Hey, I might’ve found our actress!” Beth waved a playbill. “But she’s Lynett-a with an A at this point with the last name of Taldsworthy.”
“Wasn’t that one of the names from that affidavit?” Connie had a good memory for unusual names. “Remember that British girl?” She conked her forehead with the heel of her dusty hand. “Wait. I think Harte was on that document too.”
“Hold on. Let me see that affidavit again.” Jeff didn’t recall where it had landed.
Beth located it in a stack and handed it over.
After Jeff examined the faded and brittle page, a broad smile formed. Then he carefully reread the single long paragraph. “Not sure why this was processed in California for that British girl—but this is the Rosetta Stone.” He pointed triumphantly and handed it to Tanya.
“Huh?” Connie obviously didn’t get the reference. “The What Stone?”
Beth reached for it again. “The name matches! That little girl in the photo, Lynette, was born in England as Elizabeth Madison. Apparently informally adopted the name Taldsworthy—her mother’s second husband... and she later married a Harte.”
“The Harte with the mortgage?” Jeff looked like he wanted the affidavit back in his own hands again. “Or the theater manager?”
“Not sure.” Beth’s forehead wrinkled.
Tanya still looked confused.
“Slow down.” Connie stepped back to be able to breathe more fully. “How do you get all that?”
The explanation came partly from Beth, partly from Jeff, and—briefly—from both speaking at the same time. That single document tied together all three of Lynette’s surnames and three Christian names.
Tanya reached for one of the Vaudeville programs. “So the child, Elizabeth—or Lynette—Margaret Madison, starts out in England, and later she’s in America performing as Lynett-a Taldsworthy.”
“Yeah.” Beth flipped through a few more programs from the same theater. “On tour with the Harte Troupe of actors during 1906.”
Connie took a deep breath and waved excitedly. “Bingo! Here’s some more programs, but from 1911. And now she’s Lynette Harte.”
“After Miss Taldsworthy married her manager.” Tanya smiled quietly.
“That definitely ties the actress from the playbills and programs to the lady in those publicity stills from silent movies.” Jeff scanned the array of items to see if he’d omitted any connections. “And, as a child, she’s in that family photo album.”
“So all the actress stuff links to the family photo album and those legal documents. It is all connected.” Beth shook her head slowly. “Wow. Elizabeth Margaret Madison Taldsworthy Harte—as Lynette or Lynetta—performed all over the country. Some of these are from Colorado and several cities in California.”
Connie mentioned one in Missouri and another in Ohio. Jeff cited one in New York.
“Just thinking about all that travel wears me out.” Tanya dropped heavily into a camp chair.
“And this was between 1902 and 1911, from what we’ve seen so far.” Jeff also sat back down. “You didn’t just jump in your SUV and drive from state to state back then.”
“Probably took trains...” For some reason, learning about a real person who lived and worked over a hundred years ago just made Beth feel like crying.
Connie must have felt the same, because she abruptly shifted gears. “So where’s this book we came out here to look for, in the beginning?”
“Got to be in here somewhere.” Jeff rose from his seat and dusted off the rear of his jeans.
“How big a book?” Tanya asked.
Beth collected herself and resumed sifting through the items remaining in the case. “Oh, about the size you’d expect for a diary. Maybe five-by-seven or so.”
Connie took another deep breath and poked her head above the open suitcase. “No books in here.” Then she ducked back again.
Tanya clutched Jeff’s elbow. “Maybe it’s inside something...”
Jeff patted another manila envelope which looked about a full inch thick. “Ladies, unless this is another stack of photos, I’ll bet this is our book.” His fingers were dusty, so he handed it to Beth.
Beth opened the envelope and carefully pulled out the contents. “A diary for 1955.” She re-wiped her own hands and opened the front cover. “It’s the actress, Lynette Harte!” It also had her home address in North Hollywood.
“So we found the famous diary, after all.” Jeff’s voice seemed very matter-of-fact. “Wonder what that former actress wrote about in 1955.”
“Gardening and grandchildren.” Connie shrugged.
Tanya looked down toward her slender feet. “Wonder if she hounded her daughter about having kids.”
“Maybe Lynette didn’t even have a daughter.” Beth’s hand swept above the array of items. “With all that travel and performing, who’d have time for kids?”
“Hey, gang, it’s getting late.” Connie yawned as she stretched her lower back. “I don’t live here, you know. What else is in that stinky old suitcase?”
Beth shifted some of the remaining items without actually removing them from the bottom of the overnighter. “Uh, looks like some travel brochures, a few clippings, more post cards, some letters, another couple of programs, some musty old pages of something, et cetera.”
“Okay, I’m gone.” Connie departed the garage to grab her purse from the living room. She was already at the front door by the time everyone else entered the cottage.
Tanya went to the bathroom to wash her hands and then thanked Beth for her hospitality. All four of them clustered in the space between the front of Tanya’s vehicle and the rear of Connie’s dealership loaner.
Beth handed Jeff the packet of still photos. “Would you take a closer look at these? We probably missed something in all the rushing around.”
Jeff looked toward Tanya, who nodded affirmatively. “All right. But I don’t know when I’ll get to this. We’re supposed to move furniture again tomorrow.”
“Oh, stop.” Tanya slapped him playfully. “Don’t pay any attention. He’s trying to pretend like I work him too hard at home.”
Beth also handed him the diary. “Think you’ll have time to leaf through this too?” She knew Jeff wanted to be an archivist.
An exaggerated shrug preceded his big smile. Jeff put those items in his backpack. “Don’t forget new batteries for your flashlights, Beth.” He and Tanya got into her vehicle.
Beth went to the passenger side and motioned for Jeff to roll down the window. “You take good care of those pictures. Might be valuable.”
Connie lightly bumped Beth’s shoulder with her forehead like she was banging her head against a wall. “They might even be what the robber was looking for.”
Jeff and Beth both stared at Connie. Sometimes she had moments of extreme clarity.
“Thanks for all your help, guys.” Beth waved.
Tanya drove away with Jeff.
“You going to be okay?” Connie squeezed Beth’s arm. “I mean, by yourself?”
“I might’ve if you hadn’t reminded me.” Beth tried to smile, but couldn’t manage.
“Sorry.” Connie got into her loaner and headed home, which was north of Forest Road and west of Quarry Pike.
With everybody gone, Beth was alone again. Well, not completely alone—now that Lynette was dwelling there too. It was nearly nine o’clock. Beth hurried inside and double-locked both doors. Lynette wouldn’t be much protection if the robber returned or the prowler found her residence.